Huge smoke cloud at Russia’s naval headquarters in Crimea after drone attack

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A drone has hit Russia’s navy headquarters in Crimea, the latest in a string of setbacks for Moscow in the region in the course of its war on Ukraine.

The attack is understood to have struck at the heart of the heavily fortified Black Sea fleet base in Sevastopol on Saturday morning.

The drone was shot down, officials in the Russian-controlled area say, before it fell into the roof, causing a fire and huge plumes of smoke to billow out.

Huge fireball erupts at ammunition depot in Crimea in previous attack

Within hours, large traffic jams were reported on roads out of Sevastopol, which is the largest city on the Crimean peninsula and a key port and naval base.

It came a day after explosions erupted near military bases in Russian-held areas of Ukraine and even Russia itself in apparent displays of Kyiv’s growing ability to pummel Moscow’s assets far from front lines.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the pro-Russian Sevastopol mayor, initially wrote on his Telegram channel that a drone had flown into the Black Sea fleet’s HQ and had not been shot down despite efforts.

He later issued a clarification: “They shot down an UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] right above the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and caught fire … Well done boys.” There were no consequence, he said.

Footage posted on social media showed huge plumes of smoke from the naval base, which is rising near the coast.

Russian official Oleg Kryuchkov posted on Telegram that “attacks by small drones continue” in various locations around Crimea and urged civilians to remain calm.

The headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol

(AFP via Getty Images)

Russian sailors are based at the naval headquarters in Sevastopol

(AFP via Getty Images)

A satellite image shows Saki Air Base after an explosion there Wednesday in the Crimean Peninsula

(AP)

“The goal is not military but psychological,” he wrote. “The explosives are minimal and not capable of inflicting significant harm.”

It was unclear where the drone had departed from, and the Ukrainian armed forces have not said they were behind the strike.

One defense analyst said the attack appeared to have been carried out by a weaponised commercially acquired drone.

Earlier this week, Moscow installed a new commander of its Black Sea Fleet in the wake of a spate of setbacks.

At the end of last month, another drone strike hit the same site, injuring six people, which prompted Russia to shore up its defences in Crimea.

There were also huge blasts at an air base in Crimea last week. In a new assessment, a Western official said that incident had rendered half of Russia’s Black Sea naval aviation force useless in a stroke.

This week, another explosion was reported at an air base in Belbek, near Sevastopol. On the opposite end of the peninsula, the sky was also lit up at Kerch near a huge bridge to Russia, where Moscow said it shot down a drone.

Inside Russia, two villages were evacuated after explosions at an ammunition dump in Belgorod province, more than 62 miles from territory controlled by Ukrainian forces.

Russian Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters was also hit by a drone last month

(REUTERS)

Non-operational Russian military equipment in Sevastopol

(AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility for attacks in Crimea or inside Russia, while still hinting that it is behind them, using long-range weapons or sabotage.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, a peninsula at the top of the Black Sea and a popular holiday destination with Russians, from Ukraine.

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